Golf is apparently serious again -- which has become a biennial thing -- about the pace of play in the game, both at the professional and amateur levels. And one solution put forth by R&A chief Martin Slumbers could mean slow-shaming top pros.
At his organization's two-day pace-of-play summit last week, Slumbers said he believes pro golf tours are too reluctant to name slow players and publicize how they drag down the pace for the field. He wants that to end.
“I think there is a fear to publish,” Slumbers said, according to The Scotsman. “But I think it would be better for dialogue to publish some names and numbers in both the club and professional game.”
The PGA Tour and European Tour both fine players for racking up slow times, when they continue to play behind pace after officials put them on the clock for falling out of position. However, both tours do not publish who receives those fines.
Many pros think of slow play as a form of cheating, suggesting a slow down in pace can fluster and stymie their peers. They also see the more impactful solution to slow play as penalty shots, which both major tours rarely do. In fact, the PGA Tour hasn't issued a pace-of-play penalty stroke since 1992.
